This post is a long time coming. Internet is hard to come between going to matches, watching the games at FIFA Fan Fest, sightseeing and moving from city to city.

I was in Durban on the 2010 FIFA World Cup Opening Ceremony on June 11, 2010. I was not about to miss out on the atmosphere on this historic moment; the first World Cup ever in Africa. Ideally the best place to check out the game was the FIFA Fan Fest at the New Beach. From what I read, it could accommodate up to 25,000 people. With its location on the beach and the overall good weather in Durban, the FIFA Fan Fest in Durban is definitely an ideal place to watch the game and to mingle with football fans from around the world.

By the time we arrived, the place was already packed with people. This was probably the next best place to be in South Africa to watch the opening match beside Soccer City stadium, the place where the opening ceremony and the opening game were held.

I had lots of fun watching the game. Lots of celebration, lots of cheering, lots of fun; and of course lots of Vuvuzela. My ears were still buzzing at the end of the match. The evening would have been so much better had Bafana Bafana won the game. At the end of the day, a draw was a good result against Mexico.

I will post some videos from the evening once I manage to find a decent internet access. For the time being, enjoy some pictures from the evening.

2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa is one day away and I can hardly wait for it get started (Black Eyed Peas’s song Let’s Get It Started is ringing in my head). This is the first ever World Cup I will be attending in person and I could not have been more excited to be part of this historic World Cup.

We arrived in South Africa last week and went on safari for 7 days. The safari was amazing but I’ll post the experience on another article. We flew in to Durban last night at their new King Shaka International Airport, which was only opened at the beginning of May. Crazy. The Cameroon team arrived around the same time but they were quickly escorted through security. We also missed the Chilean team last week when we arrived at Nelspruit Airport. Bummer.

I tried to get my tickets printed at one of the ticket kiosk at the airport and was told to get an assistance from one of the attendant. I guess 20 tickets are way too many for the kiosk to handle. My girlfriend’s 14 tickets were not a problem for the kiosk to print. We will be attending at least 9 World Cup matches including the FINAL. Could end up going to 3 more matches depending on how adventurous we are. A good friend will be arriving tomorrow and my cousin will be joining us at the end of the month. Bring on the World Cup. Go England … Go Bafana Bafana …

You can’t call yourselves a San Franciscan if you don’t love the Bay to Breakers; especially with Halloween at Castro is now in shamble. And of course the best place to catch the party-goers is at Alamo Square Park.

This year was no difference. Â We arrived a bit late and only managed to snap a few photos. The highlight of MY Bay to Breakers has got to be the Don’t Stop Believin’ song at the end of the parade right in front of the Alamo Square Park where the crowds gathered. One minor bummer was as soon as the song was about to finish, the over-zealous cops were blasting the siren trying to break up the party. Someone forgot to bring the donuts.

This was my favorite character of the day. There were other similar costumes but hers was by far the closest to the exact resemblance of that in the movie.

(Read the update below on how you can earn one additional pack per week and new promo codes)

The 2010 World Cup in South Africa will soon be here and I hope the rest of the world is as excited as I am. Â As in any major sporting events, companies and organizers are creating collectibles and promotional items in bunches. You can find almost anything with 2010 World Cup logo on it.

One of the item I am excited about is the Panini Sticker album. I collected a lot of Panini stickers when I was little; the Disney and the World Cup. This year is no different. Well, actually there is. Instead of buying the real stickers, Panini is partnering with FIFA to create a virtual Panini sticker album.

You don’t buy the actual stickers. Instead, you will sign in to your fifa account (you need to register for a free fifa.com account in order to participate)Â and will be given a few virtual packs a day. Each pack consists of 5 stickers. You can create your own group for sticker swapping or you can swap your duplicate stickers with stranger. Â If you complete the album before July 16, you will entered into a random drawing for a hand on one of 100 completed limited-edition hardcover print version of Panini’s virtual online version.

The stickers are divided into 3 categories:

1. Hidden Stickers

These are the stickers you will uncover from FIFA website. Look for the link to add the stickers to your virtual album.

2. Player stickers (11 players per team for all 32 participating teams)

You can only get the player stickers from the virtual packs. Swap your duplicate with others to complete your album.

3. National Team Emblem (32 teams)

You will receive the National Team Emblem once you collect all the player stickers of that team.

2010 World Cup team USA and team Emblem Panini Sticker

How to earn additional packs

There are promo codes you can enter to earn additional virtual packs. In certain countries, you can find the promo code on some Coca-Cola products. Â Here are a few promo code you can use to earn additional packs:

You should join a collector’s group. Each group can have a maximum of 11 members. When a collector completes his/her first national team, each member on the group will earn a virtual pack.

Update (04/27/2010)

You can earn an additional pack by playing the FIFA World Cup Trivia. You start at Level 1. Each level has ten questions you have to answer. When you complete one game at Level 1, it will unlock level 2 and when you complete one game at Level 2, it will unlock Level 3. When you complete one game at Level 3, you will earn 1 (one) Virtual Pack. Â You can only earn 1 pack per week with this offer (the week begins on Monday and ends on Sunday.)

Update (05/31/2010)

The above promo codes no longer work. Â I am not sure why. Â Here are a few codes that would work:

COCA-COLAFELICIDADDESTAPACELEBRAGOLFELICIDADE

Update (05/31/2010)

You can earn additional pack from Coke Zone by buying one virtual pack with 2 Coke Zone points. You can register at Coke Zone and earn up to 7 points. You earn points by entering the codes found in Coca-Cola products.

You can get additional promo code by visiting Panini Group (thanks Abdi) and you will see an ad (like the one below) on the left. Â The ad will show a promo code that you can use to get an additional pack. Â It’s an animated flash ad so wait until it shows the code and then write it down.

Guys, I just arrived in South Africa a few days ago to attend the World Cup. So far internet access has been sporadic for me. I will try to update it in a timely manner when I get to Durban on June 9, 2010. I will be writing reports (hopefully daily) on this site so please check back once the World Cup starts.

Update (06/09/2010)

This by no means new promo codes. I am merely consolidating all the promo codes from the comment section. Thanks to everyone who contributed. I deleted some comments (duplicate or group offer) to make it more manageable and easier to view.

I came across this article and was wondering why I never got flight attendants like them on my flight ever. Â Apparently the flight attendants decided to strip for calendar to make up for their unpaid salaries; which were owed to them by their employer. Â Their employer, Air Comet, was grounded last year over unpaid bills.